Portable crimping tool



Nov. 12, 1935. J J MASCUCH 2,020,473

PORTABLE CRIMPING TOOL Filed May 26, 1933 sirable.

wires it is essential that the inside of the con- Patented Nov. 12,1935,,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,020,473 PORTABLE oanurme TOOL Joseph J.Mascuch, NewarlnN. J-

Application May 26, 1933, Serial No. 672,917

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a portable crimping tool.

In aircraft practice it is customary to use flexibleeonduits on manyparts of the engine and fuselage. For instance, all the ignition wiresand other wires carrying current may be enclosed in metal conduits. Thegas and oil lines may be composed of flexible conduits. These conduitsmay be formed of a plurality of layers of metal or may be formed ofrubber with a fabric covering, or may be composed of a combination ofseveral of these materials.

The ends of the conduits are provided with metal ferrules. Theseferrules are usually made of aluminum in order. to decrease the weightto be carried, The ferrulesmust be securely attached to the ends of theconduits and must be attached so as to leave no rough portions on theinside of the conduits, and, in the case of metal conduits, the ferrulesmust make a good electrical contact with the body of the conduit.

In servicing aircraft in the field it often becomes necessary to replacea section of conduit. Many different lengths of conduits may be used ona single airplane. purposes it is not practicable to carry spareconduits with ferrules on them. It is necessary to cut a .sectionofconduit of the desired length cut. ,This, same condition arises not onlyfor emergency repairs but also in the normal overhaul of an airplane,and in the initial assembly where, by reason of variations in differenttypes of airplanes, it is necessary to shorten one or more conduits.

Under these conditions .it is not possible to take the section ofconduit to the repair shop to apply the ferrule. The ferrule must beproperly attached to the conduit in the field. It is not possibleto usesolder to hold the ferrule to the conduit for several reasons. If theferrule and conduit are made ofaluminum or if the conduit has a rubbercovering it cannot be soldered. Where solderable metals are used thesolder leaves a rough area which is very unde- On the conduits enclosingthe ignition best method of securing the ferrules to the conduitsfHowever, when the repairs are made the Therefore, for replacement I i anelongated opening I.

' equipped with a crimping machine.

Therefore, the broad object of this invention is to provide a simple,portable, hand-operated swaging tool which may be .used anywhere. 6

A further object of the invention is to produce a tool which will besmall and of light weight material so that it may be carriedin anairplane as part of the tool kit.

A further object of the invention is to pro- 10 duce a tool which willbe simple and positive in its operation, and which may be produced at aprice which will permit each mechanic to own a tool instead of having acrimping tool as part of the stationaryequipment of the repair shop. 16

It will be obvious that the tool may be used for crimping many differentarticles and the reference herein to crimping ferrules on conduits forairplanes is not to be construed as a limitation of the use of the tool.5 I

The invention consists of the construction, combination and arrangementof parts as herein illustrated, described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, is illustrated oneform of embodiment of 25 the invention, in which drawing similarreference characters designate corresponding parts, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken approximately on line 2-2 of Figure1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view; and,

Figure v4 is a fragmentary detail in vertical 35 section showing onetype of conduit and a ferrule thereon after the ferrule has been crimpedinto place.

' Referring to the drawing, 6 designates a base plate or supportingmember on which is carried 40 the elements of thetool. The plate 8, and,in fact, all of the parts of the tool except the forming dies, may bemade of a light metal such as aluminum to reduce the weight of the tool.In- I termediate of its ends the plate 6 is provided with Near its topthe plate 6 is provided'with a smaller opening 8 and a second opening 9is provided near the bottom of the plate 6.

Disposed in the opening 8 is a sleeve in. The

sleeve l0 may be held by friction or otherwise secured to the plate 6.Carried in the sleeve II is a shaft ll having a reduced screw-threadedend I! on which is carried an operating member I}. The opposite end ofthe, shaft II is provided with a reduced portion l4 on which is carrieda circular forming die I5. The die I5 is provided with a peripheralflange or lip I6 at'its outer end and with a recessed portion I1 at itsopposite end adjacent the plate 6.

Slidably disposed on the central portion of the plate 6 is a plate I8having complementary guide flanges II which engage the sides of theplate 6. The plate I3 is provided with an'interiorly screwthreadedopening 20 in which is disposed the exteriorly screw-threaded wall 2| ofa housing 22. The housing 22 is provided with an opening 23 at the endthereof. Disposed in the housing 22 is a shaft 24 carried in ballbearings 25 and provided with a screw-, threaded end 25a. A spacer 26 iscarried by the shaft 24 between the bearings 25. Carried by the shaft 24is an' interiorly screw-threaded mandrel or die 21 provided with acircumferential rib 28. The member 21 serves both as a mandrel and adie. A ferrule is supported by the member 21 while the rib 28 acts uponthe inner face of one edge of the ferrule. The rib 28 is locatedopposite a point intermediate the lip 16 and the recess I1'on the dieI5. The sleeve 21 is slotted at 29 and the shaft 24 is slotted at 30 sothat these members may be engaged-by tools to screw the sleeve 21 to theshaft 24.

Carried in the opening 9 in the plate 6 is a boss 3| having a peened-outportion 32 to secure the boss 3| in the opening 9. The boss 3| carries ascrew-threaded compression member 33, the end of which bears against thehousing 22. The member 33 is provided with a head 34 adapted to beoperated by hand to maintain the housing 2 in a desired spaced relationto the die I5. 5':

Referring to Figure 4, A designates one form of conduit provided with aferrule B. The lower edge B of the ferrule B is turned'inward againstthe conduit A. The ferrule Bis ovided with aninner flange B having itsedge B flared outward against the conduit A. The ferrule B is providedwith a circumferential flange B adapted to be against a nut notdescribed. A

The operation of the tool is as follows:

After an 'uncrimped ferrule B has been engaged over the end of a sectionof conduit A, the conduit A with the ferrule B thereon is placed overthe mandrel 21, as'shown by the dotted lines in Figure 2. The plate I8carrying the housing 22 and the member 21 is moved toward the die I5.The flange B on the ferrule B enters the recess l1 of the die I5 so thatthey ferrule B cannot slip fromposition. The compression member 33 istightened against the housing 22 to hold the ferrule B securely betweenthe die I5 and mandrel 21. I

With the parts in this position'the conduit A is held in one. handagainst rotation and the operating member or wheel I3 is rotated ineither direction but preferably in the direction of the arrow on themember I3, which is the direction of the screw-threads which hold theparts together, so that the tool will not come apart. As the mem-' 5 herI3 is rotated the lip I6 on the die I5 will bear against the edge B ofthe ferrule B, and will force the edge B inward. Simultaneously, the rib28 on the mandrel 21 will bear against the edge B on the ferrule B andforce the edge B outward. As the member I3 is rotated the tool willtravel entirely around the conduit A and the ferrule B, by reason of thefriction produced by the compression member 33. When one or two completeturns have been made the compression 15 member 33 is tightened, thusmoving the housing 22 upward and bringing the dies I5 and 21 closertogether, to produce any desired degree of crimping of the edges B and BThe operation may be repeated several times, 20 resulting in the edges Band B of the ferrule B being securely attached to the conduit A. Whenthis has been done the member 33 is retracted, allowing the dies" l5 and21 to separate, and the conduit A with the ferrule B securely crimped 25thereto may be removed from the tool.

Where different sizes of tubing are to be operatedupon or differentsized ferrules applied it is necessary to use a different die l5 and themandrel 21 .having the rib 28 in a different location. 30 However, withthe construction described it is' simple to interchange the die membersto accom- T modate various sized ferrules. If it is determined that aparticular tool will be used on one sized type of ferrule the mandrel 21may be perma- 35 -nently secured to the shaft 24 in any suitable-'manner, and the die I5 secured to the shaft II ferrule to the end of atube comprising a supporting plate, a shaft disposed through the plate,a hand wheel on one end of the shaft, a die member 45 carried on theother end of the shaft, said die being formed with a recess adjacent thesupporting plate to receive a flange on a ferrule, a second plateslidably mounted on the first plate, said second plate being formed withflanges to engage the to edges of the first plate, a housing carried bythe second plate, a shaft carried in bearings disposed in the housing,said shaft projecting through the housing and through a slot formed inthe first supporting plate, a die carried by the last mentioned shaftand a setscrew supported from the second plate and adapted to contactthe housing to limit the movement thereof in one direction.

' JOSEPH J MASCUCH.

